Folding article of furniture



J. KOVATS FOLDING ARTICLE OF FURNITURE Filed Dec. 19, 1933 June 18,1935.

INVENTOR TORNEY IIIIIIIIIII (III/4 'IIIIIIA VIIJIIIIIIIIIIIIA k PatentedJune 18, 1935 f m 'sr eATENT OFFICE -This invention relates to foldingtables, and especially. card or game tables.

Itis an-object-of the'present'invention to pro.- vide an improvedmechanismfor supporting fold-.

.5 ing legs in both the extended and foldedtpositions, and improvedoperating connections for effecting conjoint positioning .of all thelegs on the table through the manual operation of any one of the legsand for maintaining the legs either the folded or the extended position.I

- It is a further object of the present invention to provide means forindividually maintaining and locking each of the several legs of thetable in extended or working position, and yet release all of the legswhen any one of them is released to allow all of the legs to be foldedsimultaneously. A feature of the present invention is the provision ofmeans for automatically completing the movements of the legs as theyapproach extended or folded position close to the table top and toyieldingly holdthe legs in folded position so that in handling they willnot casually swing away from the table top. w

Other features andadvantages will hereinafter p a 1 In the accompanyingdrawing- 5 Figure 1 is a bottom plan view of a table made in accordancewith'this invention, with the legs in extended position.

Fig. 2'is a fragmentary view of one corner of a table showing the legfolded against the table top.

Fig. 3 is, a View similar to Fig. 2, showing the leg extended tooperative position.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary bottom plan view of the parts shown in Fi 3.

As shown in the accompanying drawing, the present invention is appliedto a card table of the type wherein the legs I0 fold perimetricallywithin the marginal frame II of the table top I2, the underside of whichis shown in Fig. 1. Each leg is secured to a metal plate I3 having abarrel I4 much wider than the width of 'the leg and receiving a pin I5carried by a bracket I6. The bracket I6 fits in the corner formed by theadjoining sides I la of the marginal frame I I and being secured tothese parts serves as a brace as well as a hinge part and mounting platefor the actuating mechanism.

The legs III are moved from folded position shown in Fig. 2 to extendedoperative position shown in Fig. 3, and vice versa, by an actuatingmechanism including a pair of toggle links I land I8 hinged together atIQ for each leg. Each link I! is connected to one of the legs I 0 by apivot pin 20, and each link I8 is connected to the table top by a pivotpin 2i which is carried by an extension 2210f the bracket It. Thetoggles. I! and I8 are so positioned and are of such length that whenthe leg is vertical the common pivot point I9 of eaoh toggle will movedown pasta line drawn through the centers of pivots 20 and 2| andthereby lock the legs in extended or vertical positions-each leg beinglocked individually of its own toggle.

Each toggle link I8 is connected to aspring 23 having its other end.bearing against the extension 22 of the bracket and: having atthis'point a loop receiving a screw 24 for holding the spring againstslipping out from engagement with the plate. The spring is so positionedthat when the toggle approaches fully extended position the spring willact to throw the toggle to its locking position shown in Fig. 3. 1 It isalso so positioned that when the togglefis collapsed and the leg isfolded up against the table top as shown in Fig. 2, the spring willurgethe toggle link I8 upwardly and hold-the leg in folded position againstaccidentally falling down. The spring may be strong enough so that,

when its end which engages the toggle link I8 crosses a line between thecenters of thepivot pin 2I and the screw 24, it will complete the motionof the toggle and thus complete the mo-- tion of the leg to eitherextended or folded position, the movement of the toggle beinglimited bya stop pin 25 secure'din the extension 22 and riding in a slot 26 inan'arm 21 integral with the link I8, the ends of the slots engagin'gthepin to limit the movements of the link I8, toggle; and l When it isdesired to swing the legs upwardly to their folded position, the togglelock may be broken by pressing upwardly against the link I8. However,when the spring 23 is made strong enough to complete the movements ofthe leg in both directions, considerable force must be applied to thetoggle because of the short leverage. To facilitate the breaking of thetoggle, the present invention provides an actuating lever 28 pivoted onthe pin 2| and having along handle 29. The actuating lever 28 has aportion 30 engaging a shoulder 3| on the link I8. Hence, when the leveris pulled from the full line to the dot-and-dash line position shown inFig. 3, the links H and I8 are swung to the dotted line positions wherethe toggle lock is broken and further collapsing movement of the togglemay be effected by power applied to the leg or to the link I8.

The table thus far described may be operated by moving each legseparately from itsfolded This comprises a bell crank lever 32 pivoted.

at 33 on a plate 34 in each corner of the table. The plate 34 may bemade integral with the bracket l6, or it may bemade of a separate pieceinserted between the bracket l6 and the marginal frame ll. Connectingthese bell crank levers are four links 35 so that when one link movesall of the links move. vided with a coupling member 36 slotted to engagea pin 31 carried by the arm 21 of the toggle link l8, and it is bymeans, of the pin and slot connection between the coupling 36 and thepin 31 that all of the legs are moved simultaneously when any one of thelegs is moved. By coupling the connecting mechanism, including the bellcranks 32'-and links 35 to the arm I8 of the toggle, the movement of anyone leg incidental to the breaking of the toggles I! and "I8 of that legwill also break the toggle locks of the other legs, and the continuedmovement of the leg being manipulated will cause the other legs to movesimultaneously and to the same extent.

Likewise, when the legs are to be moved from the folded-position shownin Fig. 2 to the extended position shown in Fig. 3, the manual mov-' ingof anyone leg will cause all of the legs to move. 4 1

In order to avoid lateral movement of the toggle links relative to eachother, the toggle link I1 is provided with an extension I'Ia lyingparallel with and against the link I8 when the toggle links are in theirextended positions shown in Fig. 3.

Variations and modifications may be made within the scope'ofthis'invention and portions of the improvements may be-used withoutothers.

Having thus described'the invention, what is claimed as new and forwhich it is desired to obtain Letters Patent, is:--

t 1. In a folding table, the combination of a table top; a'plurality oflegs; means for hinging the legs. on the table top-for movementto andfrom extended and folded positions; a pair of toggle links between eachleg and the table top, one of said links being pivoted on each leg andthe other of said links being pivoted on the table top; meansinterconnecting the latter links for simultaneous movement whereby allof the links will Each link is pro-' operate together and all of thelegs will be folded and extended simultaneously; and a plurality ofsprings, one spring acting directly on each pair of toggle links tostart and complete the movements thereof. V

a 2. In a folding table, the combination of' a table top; a plurality oflegs; means for hinging the legs on the table top for movement to andfrom extended and folded positions; a pair of toggle links between eachleg and the table top for locking the leg in extended position; meansinterconnecting the toggle connections for the several legs forsimultaneous movement; and a manually operable lever having a one-waydriving connection withone of the toggle links for breaking the-toggleconnections to unlock the legs to permit them to be folded.

3. In a folding table, the combination of a table top; a plurality oflegs; means for hinging the legs on the table topfor movement to andfrom extended and foldedpositions; toggle links connecting each leg tothe table top; means yieldingly directly andindependently acting on eachpair of toggle links for causing the latter to automatically completethe movement of the leg into either folded or extended positions as thelegs approach either the one or the other of said positionsrespectively; and means acting on said toggle links for interconnectingthe legs for simultaneous movement of all by one. p

4. In a folding table, the combination oi a table top; aplurality oflegs; means for hinging the legs on the table top for movement to andfrom extended and folded positions; toggle links connecting each leg tothe table top; means yieldingly directly and independently acting oneach pair of toggle links for causing the latter to automaticallycomplete the movement of the leg into either folded or extended positionas the legs approach either the one or the other of said posi- JOHNKOVATS.

